selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Only if you like playing with rockets.

The majority of digital photographers are perfectly happy shooting JPEGs. They can chimp their shots to see if their image is a little too dark or too light. They may even watch for blinkies and chimp the JPEG’s histogram. They can use exposure compensation to get a better image on the next shot. They may be happy with the mid-tones and don’t feel the need to dwell on shadow and highlight rendition. They might also use Nikon’s Active-D Lighting, Canon’s Auto Lighting Optimizer, Sony's Dynamic Range Optimization, etc., to improve the highlight and shadow rendition in the JPEG. Does this mean that they are lousy photographers? Of course not!

Others may want to put in more effort so that they can improve the highlight and shadow quality. This may only involve exposing normally and recovering highlight and shadow information while developing the raw image. Does this mean that they are better photographers than the first group? Certainly not! They are just more conscientious.

Finally there are those who go to greater lengths to get the exposure just right in order to maximize the use of their camera’s capabilities. They will tell each other what they did. They will fill pages describing theory and the steps they used and invite others to follow suit. Are they better photographers? Absolutely not! They just put in more effort. Are their photographs any better than those from the first two groups? Not from anything we have seen. When asked to demonstrate it they are flummoxed – they simply cannot do it.

It is not necessary to maximize anything. You only need to do enough to produce an image that is impossible to distinguish from a “maximized” image.

You can convert a weak image into a work of art if you put in the time and effort. That does not mean that you are a good photographer. It just means that you are a good artist.

Garbage in, garbage out – you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. You cannot make a decent image if the exposure is hopelessly flawed. But you might turn it into art.

suntouched Loc: Sierra Vista AZ

Scotty- I hope you are ready to duck for deep cover on this posting :)
My opinion is if the image is not composed well and not interesting then "perfection" of the technical aspects doesn't matter much because no one will look at it for more than a fleeting nano second.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Two good posts! :thumbup: :thumbup:

mallen1330 Loc: Chicago western suburbs

I heartily agree! Subject and composition are primary. No technical expertise can help a badly composed image of a uninteresting subject.

However, conversely, technical failure can ruin nicely composed, interesting images.

IMO, Scotty is correct and you are correct.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

Unfortunately I included a very precise and erudite reply in the middle of the original post. I just deleted the entire thing, so no one will know just how brilliant I am. OOOPS

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Good observations. If one is happy with their efforts, that's fine. A good combination of technical knowledge and artistic skill will produce a, potentially, even better image.
--Bob

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

:thumbup: - Neither of which is entirely correct IMO.

For selmslie : If you are shooting on Sony EVF and JPEGS, - exposure is what you see is what you get - it does not get any simpler ! - and no wasted time chimping or playing around with raw files or histograms or theories.!

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

:lol: :lol:

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

But you cannot see potential, only results - visual evidence.

That's why it is so hard to demonstrate that, "I made it better."

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Although it may seem redundant since both are 24 MP, I use both a Nikon D610 and a Sony A7 II. They each have some advantages over the other.

I shoot both JPEG and raw. If I like the JPEG image (content and composition) I will develop the raw version. It's the best of both worlds.

BTW, just because it is more challenging and fun, I still use film and scan it.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Shooting both and then PP raw complicates things ........

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Not at all. All I do is open the raw image in Capture One Pro, apply a couple of corrections and export it.

It's better than doing the PP to the JPEG and just as easy.

The only thing easier would be no PP at all.

If it needs major work I just delete it an move on.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

I was referring to the thought that there is some level of achievement for each of us. I would be foolish to say that the end results are equal,but hopefully equally satisfying to each. :-)

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

I rest my case ....

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Now I see what you meant - no PP at all, just SOOC. That works fine for the vast majority of cases.